


Free-Falling

by SparkleTurtle



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23902783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleTurtle/pseuds/SparkleTurtle
Summary: After months without a teacher, Rey approaches the First Order. Kylo Ren has promised to guide her, and she thinks she can learn without falling; however, while the Dark Side may teach hate, sometimes it's just too easy to love. AU. Set during The Last Jedi.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 3





	Free-Falling

**Author's Note:**

> Taken down from my ffn account and posted here.

“Where is Skywalker,” Snoke hissed, leaning forward on his throne. “Where. Is. He.” With each word he twisted his hand even further, using the Force to twist and stretch Rey’s body beyond its natural limits.

But Rey only bared her teeth, snarling her defiance to the monster before her. “I'll never tell you!” she cried. Luke may have abandoned her, fear shining bright in his eyes after her unexpected display of power, but she would never betray him. He was all the Resistance had left.

Snoke cackled, and then suddenly she felt as if she were being pulled apart limb by limb, her joints cracking and popping in protest. Rey screamed, arching her back and throwing her head back in her throes of pain, and as she writhed in Snoke’s hold, she glimpsed Kylo Ren kneeling behind her. His face was cool and calm, entirely composed, but his eyes told a different story: he wanted to help her. But he wouldn't.

She glared at him, hatred bubbling viciously within her. He had promised to teach her, not hand her over to Snoke for torture. The lying scum. Her anger spiked, and then—

She fell to the floor.

For a second, she just lay there, uncertain as to what had just happened. Snoke had… stopped? Forcing herself to her feet, she staggered to Kylo Ren. He didn't look imposing anymore, not kneeling there before her. She towered over him.

“I thought you said you'd teach me? That you'd help me find my place?” she cried, staying upright through sheer force of will. She leaned over, trying to spit on his pitch-black robes; however, she was too weak. As she angrily wiped her saliva off her chin, she noted it was red-tinged. “You can't teach me if I die,” she laughed, almost crying, not caring if she sounded slightly hysterical or not. “I guess my place is in a coffin then, is that what you promised?” She stared down at him, panting, sweating and swaying from side to side. “Well?”

Kylo Ren stayed kneeling before her. Then his eyes hardened, and suddenly he was on his feet, using his black cloak to block the throne room from her view as he pulled her close. Taken aback by the sudden proximity, she would have collapsed; however, his strong arms caught her and she found herself clutched securely to his chest, breathing in his sandalwood scent and wrapped in his black cloak. She looked up at him, noting how the tendons in his neck bulged as he glared at Snoke.

“I'll be taking care of her,” he ground out, and at his words, Rey almost groaned. The last time she'd been this close to him, she had given him the scar marring his cheek, which was only inches from her own.

He carried her from the throne room. Rey would have protested and insisted that he put her down, except she didn't think she could stand. Instead, she resigned herself to lying in his arms as he strode through the halls past countless stormtroopers standing at attention. In a vain attempt to forget exactly who was holding her, she kept her eyes trained on the wide expanse of glass to her right. Through it, she could see the hustle and bustle in the hangar bay as flyer after flyer was serviced by droids and stormtroopers.

Then a commotion caught her eye. An entire squadron of stormtroopers, led by a stormtrooper in grey, metallic armor, marched onto the hangar bay. They brought with them a prisoner, a man clad in light brown who stood defiantly there, entirely alone. When the metallic stormtrooper raised her blaster, Rey thanked her lucky stars that it wasn't anyone she knew. Anyone she knew was safely with the Resistance.

Then the light brown figure turned slightly, and Rey’s blood ran cold. Was that… Finn?

“Let go of me!” Rey demanded, struggling in Kylo Ren’s arms. That was her friend down there, her foolhardy friend who had apparently ignored her and snuck aboard her pod anyways. “I've got to save him!”

He grunted, pulling her even closer against him, then glanced down. “That one?” he said carelessly.

Rey nodded. “He followed me here,” she said. “I told him not to, but he did. He doesn't deserve this.”

“He is the one who took the lightsaber and fought me. He was your accomplice.”

“He was,” Rey replied proudly. When Kylo Ren didn't respond, she added hesitantly, “But he is a good man who deserves to live.”

“No.” Kylo Ren’s vehement denial shocked Rey. He punched a code into the door before them, which opened with a fwoosh. He carried her through the doorway bridal-style, and as the door slid shut behind them, he said, “He deserves to die.”

“No! Please!” she cried, hitting his arms, chest, and neck as hard as she could in an attempt to get him to put her down; however, he bore her blows stoically, never flinching, and so she finally just twisted, trying vainly to peer over his shoulder to see Finn’s fate before the door shut completely. But she was too late. Instead of a glimpse of the hangar bay, she saw only smooth grey metal.

“You monster,” she spat, glaring up at Kylo Ren.

“You knew that before coming here,” he said roughly, dumping her onto a narrow bed with black sheets. “And you did come.” He turned away from her and made his way towards a plain wall. As he approached, the smooth, unremarkable metal retracted, revealing a pile of neatly pressed dark tunics, a row of hanging black capes, and one battered, twisted, almost unrecognizable helmet.

Rey sucked in a breath. “Is— is this your room?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes,” he answered, taking a dark tunic off the shelf and holding it against him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get changed. You were rather bloody.” Without another word, he disappeared into what she supposed was a bathroom.

Rey glanced at the bathroom door, then down at the bed, then at the doorway he’d carried her through. He wasn’t watching her. Maybe she could escape? This was terrible, not at all like she’d expected… but even if she did manage to escape, where would she go? Luke wouldn’t teach her. There was no one else to teach her besides the two monsters on this ship… but if they trained her, would she become a monster, too?

No. Maybe she was by blood, but that didn’t matter; look at Kylo Ren! His mother was the leader of the Resistance, his uncle the last Jedi, yet he had embraced the Dark Side.

She would stay, then. She could learn from Snoke and Kylo Ren without falling for the whispers Dark Side. As if summoned by her thoughts, Kylo Ren stepped out of the washroom, now clad in a virtually identical dark tunic. Rey stared pointedly at him as he moved throughout the tiny room, but he refused to meet her gaze until he finally sighed and swung to face her. “What do you want?” he asked.

“Where am I sleeping?” she said rapidly, before she lost her nerve.

Kylo Ren sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Here.”

“Here?” It came out as more of a strangled squeak, but Rey didn't care. She was supposed to sleep in Kylo Ren’s room? In his bed? “Seriously?”

“Yes,” he replied. He fixed her with that remarkably trustworthy gaze, the one that she had fallen for before, when she’d come to him for guidance. “Snoke wants us to share a room. Something about if you try to escape, I can feel the disturbances in the Force. Plus, if you try to use the Jedi Mind tricks on me, they won’t work.”

Rey huffed. “It’s not my fault your stormtroopers are weak-willed!’

To her surprise, he smirked. “Perhaps not, but Snoke’s orders still stand.”

“But this is ridiculous!” she protested, her cheeks flushing. “I’m a woman!”

“And I’m a man,” he replied dryly. “Believe me, I’m not too excited about this either.” He gestured about the cramped quarters. “If there were more room, I’d give you the bed and take the couch; however, there is no couch. And don’t try to sleep on the floor. You were injured by Snoke, and you need to recover.”

Rey frowned. “Then why don’t you sleep on the floor?”

“Because I am training everyday. And if I did sleep on the floor, I’m pretty sure you would step on my face. I have a feeling you wouldn’t mind doing more damage.” Smiling mirthlessly, he sat down on the bed beside her.

Rey looked at the ground. “I am sorry about that,” she finally said. Then she turned to meet his gaze. “And thanks for saving me from Snoke.”

“Of course,” he replied. “I brought you here on a promise, and I intend to keep that promise. I’m just sorry I didn’t step in soon. Snoke is… a hard master.”

“I’m sure he is,” Rey chuckled. To her surprise, she was finding that she liked this side of Kylo Ren. This was the Kylo Ren she’d seen in her dreams. He was rather awkward, unsure of himself, but meant well even though he made bad decisions. Plus, he was almost witty. She smiled to herself, then noticed just how filthy her pants were. They were bloodied and ripped… just like the rest of her clothing. And she was sitting on his clean black sheets. “Is there anywhere I could clean up?”

“Over there.” After helping her to her feet, he led her to a small cubicle. “Being Snoke’s second in command has some benefits — I get a private shower. But to make sure you don’t drown yourself, I’ll have to watch you shower.”

“What?” Rey cried. She glared up at him, poking him in the chest. “You have no right! None at all!”

“I was just kidding!” he laughed, putting his hands up in mock-surrender. “I was kidding, Rey!”

She scowled at him. “Don’t ever do that again,” she growled. “Ever.” She pushed him away and stomped to the door of the shower. “Don’t you dare peek,” she warned. “We might be roommates, but I don’t care.”

He rolled his eyes. “Enjoy your shower. I’ll find you some new clothes.” With that he left the room, leaving her alone.

She glanced at the door, then at the shower. The thought of rinsing away the blood, dirt, and memories of pain was too alluring to resist, so she stripped and jumped under the hot spray. As she lathered her hair, she reflected on her situation: all things considered, it wasn’t bad. Luke had turned her away months ago, going on about her power and inclination to the Dark Side. After that crushing blow she hadn’t been able to face General Organa again; instead, she’d snuck back to the Resistance, told Finn to tell the General that Luke had refused to teach her, then tried to train herself.

But that hadn’t been enough. As she explored the Force, she could feel the emptiness inside her, and in her dreams, she began to see others. Others, like Kylo Ren, who promised to teach her. And now she was here, on the First Order’s Star Destroyer, sharing a room with Kylo Ren and learning from both him and Snoke. At the thought of the “Supreme Leader”, Rey frowned. She didn’t like Snoke, but since Kylo Ren seemed fairly devoted to keeping the monster away from her, she could tolerate his presence. If she was careful, she could avoid Snoke and the pull of the Dark Side. Luke’s last words echoed in her head — “I have felt power like this before once, and I didn’t fear it then… but I fear it now.” A shiver ran down her spine. But was the Dark Side her fate?

She shook her head in adamant denial. She wouldn’t. Her family may have been Dark, but that didn’t mean she was doomed to follow her grandfather’s footsteps; Kylo Ren’s very mother was General Leia, and he was Dark as they came. She rinsed the suds from her hair and dried off, her decision made. Her blood may be Dark, her training may be Dark, but she would remain Light. It might be hard, but she had to do it — if she turned to the Dark, who else could save the Resistance?


End file.
